Chiral Au Nanorods: Synthesis, Chirality Origin, and Applications

Chiral Au nanorods (c-Au NRs) with diverse architectures constitute an interesting nanospecies in the field of chiral nanophotonics. The numerous possible plasmonic behaviors of Au NRs can be coupled with chirality to initiate, tune, and amplify their chiroptical response. Interdisciplinary technologies have boosted the development of fabrication and applications of c-Au NRs. Herein, we have focused on the role of chirality in c-Au NRs which helps to manipulate the light-matter interaction in nontraditional ways. A broad overview on the chirality origin, chirality transfer, chiroptical activities, artificially synthetic methodologies, and circularly polarized applications of c-Au NRs will be summarized and discussed. A deeper understanding of light-matter interaction in c-Au NRs will help to manipulate the chirality at the nanoscale, reveal the natural evolution process taking place, and set up a series of circularly polarized applications.

Super-Resolution Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence Microscopy for Single-Nanocatalyst Imaging

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence microscopy (ECLM) provides a real-time imaging approach to visualize the surface-dependent catalytic activity of nanocatalysts, which helps to rationalize the design of catalysts. In this study, we first propose super-resolution ECLM that could measure the facet- and site-specific activities of a single nanoparticle with nanometer resolution. The stochastic nature of the ECL emission makes the generation of photons obey Poisson statistics, which fits the requirement of super-resolution radial fluctuation (SRRF). By processing an SRRF algorithm, the spatial resolution of ECL images achieved ca. 100 nm, providing more abundant details on electrocatalytic reactivities at the subparticle level. Beyond conventional wide-field ECL imaging, super-resolution ECLM provided the spatial distribution of catalytic activities at a Au nanorod and nanoplate with scales of a few hundred nanometers. It helped uncover the facet- and defect-dependent surface activity, as well as the dynamic fluctuation of reactivity patterns on single nanoparticles. The super-resolution ECLM provides high spatiotemporal resolution, which shows great potential in the field of catalysis, biological imaging, and single-entity analysis.

Nanoplasmonic Sensor Approaches for Sensitive Detection of Disease-Associated Exosomes

Exosomes are abundantly secreted by most cells that carry membrane and cytosolic factors that can reflect the physiologic state of their source cells and thus have strong potential to serve as biomarkers for early diagnosis, disease staging, and treatment monitoring. However, traditional diagnostic or prognostic applications that might use exosomes are hindered by the lack of rapid and sensitive assays that can exploit their biological information. An array of assay approaches have been developed to address this deficit, including those that integrate immunoassays with nanoplasmonic sensors to measure changes in optical refractive indexes in response to the binding of low concentrations of their targeted molecules. These sensors take advantage of enhanced and tunable interactions between the electron clouds of nanoplasmonic particles and structures and incident electromagnetic radiation to enable isolation-free and ultrasensitive quantification of disease-associated exosome biomarkers present in complex biological samples. These unique advantages make nanoplasmonic sensing one of the most competitive approaches available for clinical applications and point-of-care tests that evaluate exosome-based biomarkers. This review will briefly summarize the origin and clinical utility of exosomes and the limitations of current isolation and analysis approaches before reviewing the specific advantages and limitations of nanoplasmonic sensing devices and indicating what additional developments are necessary to allow the translation of these approaches into clinical applications.

Advanced Large-Scale Nanofabrication Route for Ultrasensitive SERS Platforms Based on Precisely Shaped Gold Nanostructures

One of the key issues for SERS-based trace applications is engineering structurally uniform substrates with ultrasensitivity, stability, and good reproducibility. A label-free, cost-effective, and reproducible fabrication strategy of ultrasensitive SERS sensors was reported in this work. Herein, we present recent progress in self-assembly-based synthesis to elaborate precisely shaped and abundant gold nanoparticles in a large area. We demonstrated that shape control is driven by the selective adsorption of a cation (Na⁺, K⁺, and H⁺) on a single facet of gold nanocrystal seeds during the growth process. We studied SERS features as a function of morphology. Importantly, we found a correlation between the shape and experimental SERS enhancement factors. We observed a detection threshold of 10^-20 M of bipyridine ethylene (BPE), which matches the lowest value determined in literature for BPE until now. Such novel sensing finding could be very promising for diseases and pathogen detection and opens up an avenue toward predicting which other morphologies could offer improved sensitivity.

Core-shell gold nanorod@mesoporous-MOF heterostructures for combinational phototherapy

Despite the increasing usage of porphyrinic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for combination therapy, the controlled encapsulation of inorganic nanoparticle-based therapeutics into such MOFs with specific structures has remained a major obstacle for improved tumor therapy. Here, we report the synthesis of a mesoporous MOF shell on the surface of gold nanorods (AuNRs), wherein a single AuNR is captured individually in single-crystalline MOFs with a controlled crystallographic orientation, for combinational phototherapy against solid tumors. The core-shell heterostructures have the benefits of a mesoporous structure and photoinduced singlet oxygen generation behavior characterized by the porphyrinic MOF shell, together with the plasmonic photothermal conversion characteristic of AuNRs. We demonstrated that the AuNR@MOF nanoplatform enables an efficient tumor treatment strategy by combining photodynamic therapy and photothermal therapy. We should emphasize that such systems could have applications beyond the field of cancer therapy, like plasmonic harvesting of light energy to induce and accelerate catalytic reactions within MOFs and multifunctional nanocarriers for agricultural formulations.

Chiral Surface and Geometry of Metal Nanocrystals

Chirality is a basic property of nature and has great importance in photonics, biochemistry, medicine, and catalysis. This importance has led to the emergence of the chiral inorganic nanostructure field in the last two decades, providing opportunities to control the chirality of light and biochemical reactions. While the facile production of 3D nanostructures has remained a major challenge, recent advances in nanocrystal synthesis have provided a new pathway for efficient control of chirality at the nanoscale by transferring molecular chirality to the geometry of nanocrystals. Interestingly, this discovery stems from a purely crystallographic outcome: chirality can be generated on high-Miller-index surfaces, even for highly symmetric metal crystals. This is the starting point herein, with an overview of the scientific history and a summary of the crystallographic definition. With the advance of nanomaterial synthesis technology, high-Miller-index planes can be selectively exposed on metallic nanoparticles. The enantioselective interaction of chiral molecules and high-Miller-index facets can break the mirror symmetry of the metal nanocrystals. Herein, the fundamental principle of chirality evolution is emphasized and it is shown how chiral surfaces can be directly correlated with chiral morphologies, thus serving as a guide for researchers in chiral catalysts, chiral plasmonics, chiral metamaterials, and photonic devices.

Synthesis of Complex Nanoparticle Geometries via pH-Controlled Overgrowth of Gold Nanorods

We show that many complex gold nanostructures such as the water chestnut, dog bone, nanobar, and octahedron, which are not easily accessible via a direct seed-growth synthesis approach, can be prepared via overgrowth of the same gold nanorods by varying pH and Ag concentrations in the growth solution. Overgrown nanostructures' shapes were determined by the rate of gold atom deposition, which is faster at higher pH. In the presence of AgNO₃, codeposition of gold and silver atoms affects the shapes of overgrown nanostructures, particularly at high pH.

Temperature-Controlled Catalysis by Core-Shell-Satellite AuAg@pNIPAM@Ag Hybrid Microgels: A Highly Efficient Catalytic Thermoresponsive Nanoreactor

A novel wet-chemical protocol is reported for the synthesis of "temperature-programmable" catalytic colloids consisting of bimetallic core@shell AuAg nanoparticles encapsulated into poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) microgels with silver satellites (AgSTs) incorporated within the microgel structure. Spherical AuNPs of 50 nm in diameter are initially synthesized and used for growing a pNIPAM microgel shell with temperature stimulus response. A silver shell is subsequently grown on the Au core by diffusing Ag salt through the hydrophilic pNIPAM microgel (AuAg@pNIPAM microgel). The use of allylamine as a co-monomer during pNIPAM polymerization facilitates the coordination of Ag⁺ with the NH₂ nitrogen lone pair of electrons, which are reduced to Ag seeds (∼14 nm) using a strong reducing agent, obtaining thus AuAg@pNIPAM@Ag hybrid microgels. The two systems are tested as catalysts toward the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-Nip) to 4-aminophenol (4-Amp) by NaBH₄. Both exhibit extremely sensitive temperature-dependent reaction rate constants, with the highest K₁ value of the order of 0.6 L/m² s, which is one of the highest values ever reported. The presence of plasmonic entities is confirmed by UV-vis spectroscopy. Dynamic light scattering proves the temperature responsiveness in all cases. Transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) elemental mapping highlight the monodispersity of the synthesized hybrid nanostructured microgels, as well as their size and metallic composition. The amount of gold and silver in both systems is obtained by thermogravimetric analysis and the EDX spectrum. The reduction reaction kinetics is monitored by UV-vis spectroscopy at different temperatures for both catalytic systems, with the AuAg@pNIPAM@Ag microgels showing superior catalytic performance at all temperatures because of the synergistic effect of the AuAg core and the AgSTs. The principal novelty of this study lies in the "hierarchical" design of the metal-polymer-metal core@shell@satellite nanostructured colloids exhibiting synergistic capabilities of the plasmonic NPs for, among others, temperature-controlled catalytic applications.

Plasmon Tunability of Gold Nanostars at the Tip Apexes

Herein, we present an optimized bottom-up approach to fabricate homogeneous Au nanostars with plasmon resonances fully tunable between the red and the infrared. The synthetic method relies on the kinetic control of the reaction upon optimization of the reactant concentrations (i.e., gold seeds, reducing agent, and gold salt). Optical enhancing properties of the obtained materials are demonstrated by using SERS with visible and infrared lasers.

Controlled etching and tapering of Au nanorods using cysteamine

While gold nanorods (AuNRs) have found many applications due to their unique optical properties, a few challenges persist in their synthesis. Namely, it is often difficult to reproducibly synthesize AuNRs with specific and monodisperse sizes, especially at shorter aspect ratios. Here, we report a method of post-synthesis precise tailoring of AuNRs by etching with cysteamine. Cysteamine selectively etches AuNRs from their ends while preserving the initial rod shape and monodispersity, making this a viable means of obtaining highly monodisperse short AuNRs down to aspect ratio 2.3. Further, we explore the effect of this etching method on two types of silica-coated AuNRs: silica side-coated and silica end-coated AuNRs. We find that the etching process is cysteamine concentration-dependent and can lead to different degrees of sharpening of the silica-coated AuNRs, forming elongated tips. We also find that cysteamine behaves only as a ligand at concentrations above 200 mM, as no etching of the AuNRs is observed in this condition. Simulations show that excitation of plasmon resonances in these sharpened AuNRs produces local electric fields twice as strong as those produced by conventional AuNRs. Thus, cysteamine etching of AuNRs is shown to be an effective means of tailoring both the size and shape of AuNRs along with their corresponding optical properties. At the same time, the resulting cysteamine coating on the etched AuNRs displays terminal amino groups that allow for further functionalization of the nanorods.

Disentangling the effect of seed size and crystal habit on gold nanoparticle seeded growth

Oxidative etching was used to produce gold seeds of different sizes and crystal habits. Following detailed characterization, the seeds were grown under different conditions. Our results bring new insights toward understanding the effect of size and crystallinity on the growth of anisotropic particles, whilst identifying guidelines for the optimisation of new synthetic protocols of predesigned seeds.

Decoupling the shape parameter to assess gold nanorod uptake by mammalian cells

The impact of nanoparticles (NPs) upon biological systems can be fundamentally associated with their physicochemical parameters. A further often-stated tenet is the importance of NP shape on rates of endocytosis. However, given the convoluted parameters concerning the NP-cell interaction, it is experimentally challenging to attribute any findings to shape alone. Herein we demonstrate that shape, below a certain limit, which is specific to nanomedicine, is not important for the endocytosis of spherocylinders by either epithelial or macrophage cells in vitro. Through a systematic approach, we reshaped a single batch of gold nanorods into different aspect ratios resulting in near-spheres and studied their cytotoxicity, (pro-)inflammatory status, and endocytosis/exocytosis. It was found that on a length scale of ∼10-90 nm and at aspect ratios less than 5, NP shape has little impact upon their entry into either macrophages or epithelial cells. Conversely, nanorods with an aspect ratio above 5 were preferentially endocytosed by epithelial cells, whereas there was a lack of shape dependent uptake following exposure to macrophages in vitro. These findings have implications both in the understanding of nanoparticle reshaping mechanisms, as well as in the future rational design of nanomaterials for biomedical applications.

Bioproduction of gold nanoparticles for photothermal therapy

Background: Photothermal response of plasmonic nanomaterials can be utilized for a number of therapeutic applications such as the ablation of solid tumors. Methods & results: Gold nanoparticles were prepared using different methods. After optimization, we applied an aqueous plant extract as the reducing and capping agent of gold and maximized the near-infrared absorption (650–900 nm). Resultant nanoparticles showed good biocompatibility when tested in vitro in human keratinocytes and yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Gold nanoparticles were easily activated by controlled temperature with an ultrasonic water bath and application of a pulsed laser. Conclusion: These gold nanoparticles can be synthesized with reproducibility, modified with seemingly limitless chemical functional groups, with adequate controlled optical properties for laser phototherapy of tumors and targeted drug delivery.

Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in nanoparticle synthesis

The versatile role of PVP in nanoparticle synthesis is discussed in this Perspective article.

Activation of oxygen-mediating pathway using copper ions: fine-tuning of growth kinetics in gold nanorod overgrowth

Growth kinetics plays an important role in the shape control of nanocrystals (NCs). Herein, we presented a unique way to fine-tune the growth kinetics via oxidative etching activated by copper ions. For the overgrowth of gold nanorods (Au NRs), competitive adsorption of dissolved oxygen on rod surface was found to slow down the overgrowth rate. Copper ions were able to remove the adsorbed oxygen species from the Au surface via oxidative etching, thus exposing more reaction sites for Au deposition. In this way, copper ions facilitated the overgrowth process. Furthermore, Cu(2+) rather than Cu(+) acted as the catalyst for the oxidative etching. Comparative study with Ag(+) indicated that Cu(2+) cannot regulate NC shapes via an underpotential deposition mechanism. In contrast, Ag(+) led to the formation of Au tetrahexahedra (THH) and a slight decrease of the growth rate at similar growth conditions. Combining the distinct roles of the two ions enabled elongated THH to be produced. Copper ions activating the O2 pathway suggested that dissolved oxygen has a strong affinity for the Au surface. Moreover, the results of NC-sensitized singlet oxygen ((1)O2) indicated that the absorbed oxygen species on the surface of Au NCs bounded with low-index facets mainly existed in the form of molecular O2.

Blue SHG enhancement by silver nanocubes photochemically prepared on a RbTiOPO4 ferroelectric crystal

Silver nanocubes with low size dispersion have been selectively photo-deposited on the positive surface of a periodically poled RbTiOPO4 ferroelectric crystal. The obtained nanocubes show preferential orientations with respect to the substrate suggesting epitaxial growth. The plasmonic resonances supported by the nanocubes are exploited to enhance blue SHG at the domain walls.

Optical response of threaded chain plasmons: from capacitive chains to continuous nanorods

We present a detailed theoretical analysis of the optical response of threaded plasmonic nanoparticle strings, chains of metallic nanoparticles connected by cylindrical metallic bridges (threads), based on full-electrodynamic calculations. The extinction spectra of these complex metallic nanostructures are dominated by large resonances in the near infrared, which are associated with charge transfer along the entire string. By analysing contour plots of the electric field amplitude and phase we show that such strings can be interpreted as an intermediate situation between metallic nanoparticle chains and metallic nanorods, exhibiting characteristics of both. Modifying the dielectric environment, the number of nanoparticles within the strings, and the dimensions of the threads, allows for tuning the optical response of the strings within a very broad region in the visible and near infrared.

Nanoparticles for photothermal therapies

The current status of the use of nanoparticles for photothermal treatments is reviewed in detail. The different families of heating nanoparticles are described paying special attention to the physical mechanisms at the root of the light-to-heat conversion processes. The heating efficiencies and spectral working ranges are listed and compared. The most important results obtained in both in vivo and in vitro nanoparticle assisted photothermal treatments are summarized. The advantages and disadvantages of the different heating nanoparticles are discussed.

Monodisperse gold nanotriangles: size control, large-scale self-assembly, and performance in surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Au nanotriangles display interesting nanoplasmonic features with potential application in various fields. However, such applications have been hindered by the lack of efficient synthetic methods yielding sufficient size and shape monodispersity, as well as by insufficient morphological stability. We present here a synthesis and purification protocol that efficiently addresses these issues. The size of the nanotriangles can be tuned within a wide range by simply changing the experimental parameters. The obtained monodispersity leads to extended self-assembly, not only on electron microscopy grids but also at the air-liquid interface, allowing transfer onto centimeter-size substrates. These extended monolayers show promising performance as surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates, as demonstrated for thiophenol detection.

Monitoring galvanic replacement through three-dimensional morphological and chemical mapping

Galvanic replacement reactions on metal nanoparticles are often used for the preparation of hollow nanostructures with tunable porosity and chemical composition, leading to tailored optical and catalytic properties. However, the precise interplay between the three-dimensional (3D) morphology and chemical composition of nanostructures during galvanic replacement is not always well understood as the 3D chemical imaging of nanoscale materials is still challenging. It is especially far from straightforward to obtain detailed information from the inside of hollow nanostructures using electron microscopy techniques such as SEM or TEM. We demonstrate here that a combination of state-of-the-art EDX mapping with electron tomography results in the unambiguous determination of both morphology transformation and elemental composition of nanostructures in 3D, during galvanic replacement of Ag nanocubes. This work provides direct and unambiguous experimental evidence toward understanding the galvanic replacement reaction. In addition, the powerful approach presented here can be applied to a wide range of nanoscale transformation processes, which will undoubtedly guide the development of novel nanostructures.

Quantum dot thermometry evaluation of geometry dependent heating efficiency in gold nanoparticles

Quantum dot based thermometry, in combination with double beam confocal microscopy, was used to investigate the absorption/heating efficiency of gold nanoparticles with different morphologies (nanorods, nanocages, nanoshells, and nanostars), all of them with an intense localized surface plasmon resonance within the first biological window, at around 808 nm. The heating efficiency was found to be strongly dependent on the geometry of the nanostructure, with the largest values found for gold nanorods and long-edge gold nanostars, both of them with heating efficiencies close to 100%. Gold nanorods and nanocages were found to have the largest absorption cross section per unit mass among all the studied geometries, emerging as optimum photothermal agents with minimum metal loading for biosystems.

Triton X-100 for three-plasmon gold nanostars with two photothermally active NIR (near IR) and SWIR (short-wavelength IR) channels

Five-branched gold nanostars are obtained using Triton X-100 in a seed-growth synthesis. They have the uncommon feature of two intense localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) in the 600-900 and 1100-1600 nm ranges. Both LSPRs convert laser radiation into heat, offering two photothermally active channels in the NIR and SWIR ranges.

A general approach toward polymer-coated plasmonic nanostructures

A generic method for the preparation of polymer-coated plasmonic nanostructures with tunable thickness of the hydrophobic polymer spacer.

Gold nanorods for optimized photothermal therapy: the influence of irradiating in the first and second biological windows

The absorption efficiencies of gold nanorods working in the first and second biological windows are investigated.

Gold nanorods and their plasmonic properties

Gold nanorods have been receiving extensive attention owing to their extremely attractive applications in biomedical technologies, plasmon-enhanced spectroscopies, and optical and optoelectronic devices. The growth methods and plasmonic properties of Au nanorods have therefore been intensively studied. In this review, we present a comprehensive overview of the flourishing field of Au nanorods in the past five years. We will focus mainly on the approaches for the growth, shape and size tuning, functionalization, and assembly of Au nanorods, as well as the methods for the preparation of their hybrid structures. The plasmonic properties and the associated applications of Au nanorods will also be discussed in detail.

Core-shell noble metal nanostructures templated by gold nanorods

The main research progress in core-shell noble metal nanostructures templated by gold nanorods (Au NRs) is summarized regarding synthesis, optical, and catalytic properties. Design and fabrication of core-shell hybrid nanostructures are demonstrated to be effective not only for optimizing and expanding intrinsic properties but also for creating novel localized surface plasmon enhanced optical and catalytic functionalities, thus providing great prospects in both fundamental research and potential applications.

Coating urchinlike gold nanoparticles with polypyrrole thin shells to produce photothermal agents with high stability and photothermal transduction efficiency

Photothermal therapy using inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) is a promising technique for the selective treatment of tumor cells because of their capability to convert the absorbed radiation into heat energy. Although anisotropic gold (Au) NPs present an excellent photothermal effect, the poor structural stability during storage and/or upon laser irradiation still limits their practical application as efficient photothermal agents. With the aim of improving the stability, in this work we adopted biocompatible polypyrrole (PPy) as the shell material for coating urchinlike Au NPs. The experimental results indicate that a several nanometer PPy shell is enough to maintain the structural stability of NPs. In comparison to the bare NPs, PPy-coated NPs exhibit improved structural stability toward storage, heat, pH, and laser irradiation. In addition, the thin shell of PPy also enhances the photothermal transduction efficiency (η) of PPy-coated Au NPs, resulting from the absorption of PPy in the red and near-infrared (NIR) regions. For example, the PPy-coated Au NPs with an Au core diameter of 120 nm and a PPy shell of 6.0 nm exhibit an η of 24.0% at 808 nm, which is much higher than that of bare Au NPs (η = 11.0%). As a primary attempt at photothermal therapy, the PPy-coated Au NPs with a 6.0 nm PPy shell exhibit an 80% death rate of Hela cells under 808 nm NIR laser irradiation.

Nano-bio effects: interaction of nanomaterials with cells

With the advancements in nanotechnology, studies on the synthesis, modification, application, and toxicology evaluation of nanomaterials are gaining increased attention. In particular, the applications of nanomaterials in biological systems are attracting considerable interest because of their unique, tunable, and versatile physicochemical properties. Artificially engineered nanomaterials can be well controlled for appropriate usage, and the tuned physicochemical properties directly influence the interactions between nanomaterials and cells. This review summarizes recently synthesized major nanomaterials that have potential biomedical applications. Focus is given on the interactions, including cellular uptake, intracellular trafficking, and toxic response, while changing the physicochemical properties of versatile materials. The importance of physicochemical properties such as the size, shape, and surface modifications of the nanomaterials in their biological effects is also highlighted in detail. The challenges of recent studies and future prospects are presented as well. This review benefits relatively new researchers in this area and gives them a systematic overview of nano-bio interaction, hopefully for further experimental design.

Seed-mediated growth of noble metal nanocrystals: crystal growth and shape control

Controlled synthesis of noble metal nanocrystals has received enormous attention due to the ability of tailoring the properties of nanocrystals by tuning their shape, size, and composition. The seed-mediated growth method is one of the most reliable and versatile methods to control the shapes of noble metal nanocrystals. This feature article highlights recent strategies regarding shape-controlled synthesis of noble metal nanocrystals by the seed-mediated growth method, with the aim of introducing new strategies and offering new mechanistic insights into nanocrystal shape evolution. Critical parameters affecting the nucleation and growth of noble metal NCs are systemically introduced and analyzed. New developments of extended seed-mediated growth methods were also introduced. Finally, the perspectives of future research on the seed-mediated growth method are also discussed.

Colloidal nanoplasmonics: from building blocks to sensing devices

Nanoplasmonics is a rapidly developing field of research and technology that is based on the ability of small metal particles to interact strongly with light of wavelength significantly larger than their size. The development of nanoplasmonics has been closely associated with the application of colloid science to the controlled growth of metal nanocrystals in solution and to directing the self-assembly of such nanocrystals into organized arrays with enhanced collective properties. Engineering the morphology and the assembly of metal nanoparticles is a key step toward the fabrication of devices with great potential in detection and diagnosis as well as in a wide variety of other fields. In this Feature Article, we provide an overview of the recent work in our laboratory, which in our view somehow reflects the evolution of the field itself and provides guidelines for future research.

Antibonding plasmon modes in colloidal gold nanorod clusters

The optical response of nanoplasmonic colloids in disperse phase is strictly related to their shape. However, upon self-assembly, new optical features, for example, bonding or antibonding modes, emerge as a result of the mutual orientations of nanoparticles. The geometry of the final assemblies often determines which mode is dominating in the overall optical response. These new plasmon modes, however, are mostly observed in silico, as self-assembly in the liquid phase leads to cluster formation with a broad range of particle units. Here we show that low-symmetry clustering of gold nanorods (AuNRs) in solution can also reveal antibonding modes. We found that UV-light irradiation of colloidal dispersions of AuNRs in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), stabilized by poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) results in the creation of AuNRs clusters with ladderlike morphology, where antibonding modes can be identified. We propose that UV irradiation induces formation of radicals in solvent molecules, which then promote cross-linking of PVP chains on the surface of adjacent particles. This picture opens up a number of relevant questions in nanoscience and is expected to find application in light induced self-assembly of particles with various compositions and morphologies.

The golden age: gold nanoparticles for biomedicine

Gold nanoparticles have been used in biomedical applications since their first colloidal syntheses more than three centuries ago. However, over the past two decades, their beautiful colors and unique electronic properties have also attracted tremendous attention due to their historical applications in art and ancient medicine and current applications in enhanced optoelectronics and photovoltaics. In spite of their modest alchemical beginnings, gold nanoparticles exhibit physical properties that are truly different from both small molecules and bulk materials, as well as from other nanoscale particles. Their unique combination of properties is just beginning to be fully realized in range of medical diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This critical review will provide insights into the design, synthesis, functionalization, and applications of these artificial molecules in biomedicine and discuss their tailored interactions with biological systems to achieve improved patient health. Further, we provide a survey of the rapidly expanding body of literature on this topic and argue that gold nanotechnology-enabled biomedicine is not simply an act of 'gilding the (nanomedicinal) lily', but that a new 'Golden Age' of biomedical nanotechnology is truly upon us. Moving forward, the most challenging nanoscience ahead of us will be to find new chemical and physical methods of functionalizing gold nanoparticles with compounds that can promote efficient binding, clearance, and biocompatibility and to assess their safety to other biological systems and their long-term term effects on human health and reproduction (472 references).